


Denied

by escape_chan



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, Humor, Modern AU, rasa is a good father and husband, rasa is a loan officer, sand family fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-03-09 07:54:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18912730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/escape_chan/pseuds/escape_chan
Summary: Rasa works as a loan officer and suddenly gets a string of random people coming into his office asking for a loan, each with a more wild and ridiculous reason than the last.





	1. Kakuzu's Foreign Prince

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shipcat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipcat/gifts).



> I'm also on tumblr, come by and say hello: [writing-escapes](https://writing-escapes.tumblr.com/)

For the most part, Rasa enjoyed his job as a loan officer, either approving or denying loans for people. It was a simple job that paid well and allowed him to support his family. But every once in a while there were strange and unusual characters who made their way into his office to sit opposite him at his desk and ask for a loan. They made his work more difficult, as if they thought he could make money appear out of thin air. It was when he had people like that in his office that he wished he had taken a different path in life. 

And that was exactly what he was thinking as he drank from his thermos of coffee- made that morning by his lovely wife Karura as she made school lunches for their three children that morning. Black, with just a little cream, no sugar. She spoiled them all, making them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Not to mention all their favorite desserts and tea as well. He loved her very much and wanted to spoil her in return. Which was why he didn’t walk out of his office and hand in a letter of resignation right then and there. That was why he sat there listening to the senile old man across from him.

“...I intend to keep the money.”  
  
“Sir, this is a _loan_. You cannot simply keep it. You have to repay it, if approved, when the term of your loan is up. You can not simply keep the money and sit on it until you pay it back.” Rasa set his thermos down with a ‘thud’ on his desk and looked across at the man- he glanced at the loan application to see his name, ‘Kakuzu’. Was there some other reason he didn’t want to reveal for the loan? Was it for surgery? The man looked like a rag doll stitched together by a butcher. Maybe a victim of a now eradicated disease? He was how old? Rasa once more looked at his application and gave a low whistle. Ninety one. Looking up at him, he could have passed for maybe only eighty. Rasa really didn’t care what his reasons for wanting the loan were anymore. As morbid as it was, he was not approving a loan to someone who would probably not live to see the repayment period even begin.

“I cannot approve this loan for you.”  
  
“My credit history good. No! It's perfect! Of course you can approve my loan.”  
  
“No, I can’t. While your credit history is very good, yes, your reasons for wanting a loan,” he read off the application, “‘To increase my wealth’ is not a good enough reason. Besides that there is the factor of your, uh, advanced age I must also consider.” He wondered, maybe there was some other reason he needed the loan. It didn’t hurt to ask and Rasa was somewhat curious. “Is there some other reason you need this loan for?”  
  
Kakuzu was quiet, almost thoughtful. “You can’t tell anyone.”  
  
“Of course not.” Rasa said, most of the time he tried to forget these meetings once he left work. He guessed he might have been right. The man probably wanted some corrective surgery to look more attractive, though at his age Rasa wasn’t sure why. Maybe he had some young girlfriend he wanted to look good for.

Kakuzu leaned in close as if he were afraid of someone overhearing a closely guarded secret, “I plan to invest the money, there is an exiled prince who sent me a private email and once I send him the loan money, he is going to get his wrongfully imprisoned father, the king, out of prison and will send me back triple.”

“Oh god…” Rasa groaned, he rubbed his face and reached into his desk for his rubber stamp and slammed it down on Kakuzu’s loan application. He took up the papers, now with a big red ‘DENIED’ stamped across the front, “That, sir, is a scam. You will never see a single cent of any money you send that man. He is a con-artist, not a prince. Though he could be a drug lord. Your application has been denied.”

Kakuzu, highly offended shouted at him, “You can’t do that! I have perfect credit! I want that money!”

Rasa rolled his eyes and pointed to the big red letters to make it as clear as possible. “I have full authority to deny your request for a loan. See? It says ‘denied’ right there.”

“This is an outrage! I have never been so offended! You’ll hear from my lawyers!” He plucked a business card from Rasa's desk and stuck in his shirt pocket.

Ignoring that, Rasa put Kakuzu's loan application inside of a red folder on his desk, “I certainly hope you haven’t sent any money yet. Many senior citizens are scammed out of their life savings by these con artists. Tell me you haven’t sent him any money yet.”

“Of course not!" There was a pause, "I only cashed a check for him that he sent me.”

Rasa starred at the old man across from him, “And have you checked your bank balance since cashing that check? I’m sure your prince has helped himself to your money by now.”  
  
Kakuzu opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and took out his phone, “I've never fallen for a scam in my life... I don't plan on starting now...” He muttered as he checked his banking app.

Rasa watched as the blood drained from the old man's face and hoped he wouldn’t have a heart attack and die on his desk. If that happened, he would actually quit. While Kakuzu looked like he was about to pass out as he looked at his bank balance, Rasa picked up the phone and called the front desk, “I’m sending someone your way, can you send him over to the fraud department? He fell for one of those email scams from a foreign prince.” He hung up and walked around to help Kakuzu out of his office. Rasa handed him his cane and noticed the old man was wearing slippers, not even shoe-like slippers but obvious bedroom slippers. Rasa wondered why, but decided that at that age, Kakuzu had earned the right to go about in public in slippers. Besides they were probably just more comfortable than shoes. They looked comfortable. Rasa wished he was at home with his bathrobe and slippers.

In shock, Kakuzu allowed himself to be walked out to the front desk. “It was a very convincing email.”

“Did it begin ‘Hello Dear, I am an exiled prince in my country’?”

“How did you know? It said it was strictly confidential!”  
  
“It’s so confidential that you, me and everyone else have been getting that email every few months for years now. Alright, Kakuzu, here we are. Rin will help you get to the fraud department,” he didn’t like how pale Kakuzu had become and managed to feel sorry for the old man and added, “I’m sure they will help you recover all your lost funds.” He wasn't sure if they actually could but thought it didn't hurt to say so.

Rasa then left Kakuzu at the front desk and went back to his office, hoping the rest of the applicants for the day had more wits about them.


	2. Tsunade's Lost Weekend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsunade tries to get herself a loan for a weekend getaway, but Rasa is the one getting a jump on the weekend when his wife has to stop by his work to bring him something.

When Rasa’s alarm went off at seven the following morning, he shut it off but did not get out of bed. Not yet even up yet but already Rasa was stressed thinking about what might lay in store for him at work. He just wanted to call out sick for the day. There were plenty of unused sick days... it wouldn't hurt. He pulled the blankets around him and curled up beside Karura who was also waking up to get the kids ready for school.

“It can’t be that bad, Rasa... it was just an old man. I’m sure today will be better. Besides, it’s Friday. You just have to get through today and then you’ll have the whole weekend off to relax.” She kissed his cheek, “You’re acting like the kids when they don’t want to go to school.” Sitting up, she threw the blankets off, exposing Rasa’s bare back and shoulders to the cold morning air.

He yelped at the sudden shock and got up to go shower and get dressed. After dropping the kids off at their respective schools, he went to work and checked his messages. One from that old man, Kakuzu, who had been scammed, wanting to get an appointment to be approved for a new loan to make up the money he lost when he cashed the check for the drug lord. One from an artist who was looking to apply for a loan. Another from someone trying to call a gym and getting the wrong number.

Rasa got to work replying to emails from clients, set up appointments for the following week, checking on the status of people's loans. At some point later in the morning heard a knock on his door. He looked up to see a woman with a pet pig in her arms that wore a pearl necklace.

Great...

“I’m sorry but we don’t allow pets in here.” He told her with a forced smile. Today was going to follow in the footsteps of the day before he thought to himself. At least Karura had promised to make his favorite dish for dinner that night so there was that to look forward to.

“No one said anything as we came in.” The older blonde haired woman said as she took a seat and enthusiastically slammed her application on the desk.

Rasa knew that had to be a lie. No way would anyone not say anything about a pet pig being brought into the bank. 

The woman smiled at him, then proudly introduced her pig as if she were introducing an exceptional child, “This is Tonton.”  
  
Rasa looked at the pig and it sniffed and snorted at him. The woman laughed and then set the animal down on the floor and it began snuffling about his office.

“I don’t want it to leave me any… _presents,_ if you know what I mean.”  
  
The woman laughed again and Rasa wondered if she was drunk so early in the day. At least she wasn't shouting at him. 

“Tonton is house trained! Don’t worry. Now,” she rubbed her hands together, “let’s get that loan approved!”

Not wanting to cause a scene, and wanting to get this over and done with as soon as possible, Rasa took the application and put Tsunade Senju’s information into the computer to run a credit check before he looked over the application.

She wanted a loan for a trip overseas to go gambling and clubbing. Yeah, that wasn’t happening. Rasa sighed, was this a joke? Was his supervisor intentionally sending all these people to him on purpose?! Was this San’s doing?! He wouldn’t put it past him. The man could have a strange sense of humor at times.

“How long does this normally take? My plane leaves tonight, I need to go home and pack.” Tsunade told him, then added, “And buy the plane ticket as soon as I’m approved.”

“You know… we don’t usually give loans to people who want to gamble the money away. Loans have to be paid back.”

“I am aware of what a loan is,” she read his nameplate on the desk, “Mr. Sabaku.”

“Oh, you do? Isn’t that nice. Well, unfortunately it would appear your credit is not very good.” He looked at the screen, “You have a lot of debt.”  
  
“That’s old debt! I paid it back, doesn’t it say?”

“No. It does not. It appears you have _started_ repaying it but it’s not paid off. And that is a big problem.”  
  
The pig, Tonton, had now made its way around to the other side of the desk, unknown to Rasa. He continued to go over her credit score with her until he felt something tugging the hem of his pants. He looked down to see the pig chewing on his pants and he grit his teeth as the tried to remember his three children and adoring wife, the four people he did this job for, to provide a place for them to live in comfort. 

“Your pig, ma’am. It is eating my pants!” He said, each word louder than the rest, “Please come get your animal!”

He stamped a big ‘DENIED’ across the front page of her application as Tsunade picked up Tonton.

“You denied me?!” She shouted, “I need that-”

From between clenched teeth, Rasa told her, “If you need money for a wild weekend gambling trip you probably won't remember come Monday, try one of the pay day loan centers! This is a prestigious bank!”  
  
As Tsunade marched out of his office, Tonton securely in her arms, Rasa let out a long shuddering breath. Then he inspected his pant leg. There were holes in it where the pig had eaten his pants! He put his arms on his desk and laid his head down. It was still morning. How could he go through the rest of the day with holes in his pants? He had to text Karura and ask her to bring him a clean pair of pants.

She wanted to know why and when he told her, she said that was the most ridiculous thing she had heard.

‘You work in a bank, not a petting zoo.’ But she showed up fifteen minutes later with a new pair of pants for him.

“See? I was telling the truth.” Rasa said as he stuck his leg out.

Karura saw that he had indeed been telling her the truth and covered her mouth to hide her laughter as she closed and locked the door of his office before helping him unbuckle his belt.

* * *

 

As Rasa pulled on his pants, he decided that there had been worse days at work and Karura’s visit had certainly made up for the pig eating his pants. He kissed his wife goodbye, unaware of the mark she left on his throat and unaware he had put back on the same pants that Tonton had taken bites out of.

Just as Karura was leaving, his boss walked by, “Ah, Ms. Sabaku, rather unusual to see you here. Is everything alright?”  
  
“Oh yes, San, everything is very much alright. I just needed to bring my husband something.” She smiled, a faint blush in her cheek as glanced back at Rasa whose face was flushed and was trying to fix his hair but it was no use and looked like he just got out of bed.

“See you tonight, Rasa.” She waved and hurried away, “Have a nice day, San.”

"You look like you enjoyed your wife stopping by." San said as he stood in the doorway to Rasa's office. 

Rasa cleared his throat and sat at his desk, shuffling papers and avoiding his boss’s eyes on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comments, it means a lot to me and I appreciate it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, too!


	3. Sasori's Masterpiece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasori is in desperate need of a loan for what will become his masterpiece. Unfortunately Rasa doesn't share in his view of what art is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, your comments and for leaving kudos! I really appreciate it! Please enjoy this chapter and Sasori! There is one chapter remaining that I hope to post in the next few days after I finish editing it. :D

Rasa looked over the loan application that had just been handed to him. It was even more ridiculous than both the old man who had been scammed by a drug lord from another country, and the woman who wanted to go clubbing overseas. At least those were somewhat understandable. People got loans for weddings and honeymoons. This one however… was not.

“So. Sasori. You want a loan for full body reconstructive-”

Clearing his throat, Sasori pointed to a place in the loan application and tapped it with a slim, elegant, and perfectly manicured finger.

Rasa raised a brow and looked down to see Sasori was pointing to the phrase: ‘full body artistic enhancements.’

Looking Sasori over, Rasa thought that he looked nearly perfect. With a boyish face that may have had botox recently as there was not a single crease to be seen, no expression lines that someone of thirty five years should have, not a single strand of grey in his ginger hair. Rasa found it to be just a little bit creepy. It just wasn’t natural.

“Ah, I know what you are thinking, I've seen that look before. You see," Sasori began, "this body, this vessel I reside in, as close as it is, is not perfect. I shall enhance it. I shall perfect it! And in doing so I shall become true art!” Sasori’s eyes lit up as he spoke and as soon as his speech was over he set a three ring binder on Rasa’s desk and opened it. He pointed at one of the photos inside.

“Behold! I shall become my own masterpiece!”

It was a photo of a nude Sasori, though it had been digitally altered to make him look as though he were a marionette. There were lines on his face, his elbows and shoulders looked like they were made of wood and put together with ball joints, as did his hips and knees. His neck looked like it could separate from his body and spin in a complete circle. Rasa didn't know what to say, and while he wanted to look away, was unable to do so.

“I can see you are impressed. I’ve rendered you speechless.” Sasori noted smugly, and turned the page to show sketches he had drawn up of his ideal body.

Impressed? Rasa looked up from the little book of horrors and sat back in his chair. He may have been speechless but impressed was not quite the word he would use. Horrified was more like it. Rasa was sure to have nightmares about Sasori that night.

“Speechless, that’s what I am alright…” Rasa said as Sasori turned page after page, obviously admiring himself.

“Ah yes… this is a favorite of mine… an early concept sketch…” Sasori nodded as he looked over a sketch where there was some sort of canister in the center of his chest. “But you see, apparently I need my heart to keep living. If I ever find a doctor that could replace it with some artificial valve, I will do just that- replace it.”

Rasa breathed deeply. Why did he have to deal with this? Why not that new hire several doors down from him? 

“I’m not sure that even if you had the money to do all this that you could find a doctor willing to perform a quarter of these surgeries.”

Sasori looked up sharply from the sketches, “You mean enhancements. And why not?” He demanded, “They are for hire just like any other profession. Carpenters of people. Throw enough money at them and they’ll do whatever you want.” Sasori snapped his binder shut in Rasa’s face, making him flinch. “I have everything planned out, and just so you know: I’ve even found a doctor willing to do all this for me. So hurry up. Approve my loan.” He snapped his fingers and pointed to the sheet of paper on the desk, “I don’t have all day.”

As if Rasa wanted him to sit there all day... He wanted Sasori gone as soon as possible. But made him wait a few more minutes and randomly clicked on his screen. “First of all, I’ve run your credit check while you were showing me your little book of…” he trailed off, unsure if he wanted to say what he really thought it was- a book of horrors. He thought better of it and just mumbled ‘art’. Then he looked at the computer monitor and turned it around so that Sasori could see, “You see this number? It’s quite low isn’t it? It means that you have terrible credit. Too many outstanding balances on several cards, one of which has gone to collections. Do you see this other number? That's also very low and that's your current bank balance. I couldn’t approve you for a loan if I wanted to. Whether you have found a doctor as you've said or not, I cannot approve a loan for such a drastic undertaking. You may not survive and if you do, clearly we'll never see you pay the loan back.”

"To lose my life for art... a risk I am willing to take." Sasori told him, his voice solemn.

Rasa took out his rubber stamp and brought it down on the loan application.

"Well, you could always take up wood whittling." Rasa told him, "There's plenty of dead wood out there in the forests for free. Perhaps you could put them in a consignment shop." 

“How dare you…” Sasori seethed, “You dare insult me and my art? You’ll be sorry! I’m going to find the money for this, mark my words. You’ll see my name go down in history as one of the greatest artists- no! _The_ greatest artist of our age! Everyone will know that-” he looked at the name plate on Rasa’s desk, “Rasa Sabaku,” he sneered, “denied me my loan and is a nobody! No one will remember you. You will be one of the countless forgotten souls. Lost to history, faceless, nameless. Utterly forgotten. But I shall be remembered. I shall live on in my art for eternity as one of the greats! A master!”

Rasa honestly couldn’t care less if history remembered him. Though apparently everyone would end up simultaneously both knowing and forgetting him according to Sasori. All he really cared about was what his family thought of him. He looked across his desk at the angry little ginger. He had looked so small and almost cute when he walked in. Now he looked frightening.

Picking up his phone, Rasa pressed one of the speed dial buttons, never once taking his eyes off the madman before him who continued to rant and rave, now going on about how real artists didn’t need to pay their bills.

“Security? I need someone escorted out of my office and out of the building, please.”

Moments later an armed security guard walked into the office, “This the one?”

“Yes.”  
  
“Alright, Red. Come with me. Your loan was denied. Time to go.” He hauled Sasori up and out of the chair, an easy feat considering he was on the petite side.

Sasori recoiled at the touch, “Unhand me this instant! I can see myself out. I won’t be insulted further!” He grabbed his notebook off the desk, “You’ll be sorry. You’ll all be sorry!” With that, he marched out of the office, followed closely by the security guard.

Rasa rubbed his face and looked at the framed family photo on his desk, it even included their cat, Shukaku. On the verge of walking out, he really needed some reminding as to why he continued to work there.

A few moments later someone stuck their head into Rasa’s office and he looked up, his heart racing, expecting it to be another loan applicant. Instead he was surprised to see his boss.

“San. Can I help you?” He asked.

“I heard raised voices coming from here just a few minutes ago. Is everything alright? I do hope you are treating everyone respectfully.”

Rasa grit his teeth, “Of course I am. I was just being verbally abused by some art lover who was angry I wouldn’t approve his loan. Terrible credit. Very low bank balance. Wanted the money to ‘turn himself into art’. More like to make himself a living nightmare…” He rubbed his face, “I think I need a vacation…”

“Nonsense. All you need is a little break. Go take fifteen minutes. I’ll take care of anyone who might come in. Go on. Get some fresh air in the parking lot, have some tea or coffee.”

Rasa was not about to go out to the parking lot where Sasori might be lurking and instead went to the break room. He watched the clock and while he appreciated the unexpected break, he couldn’t seem to relax. Images of Sasori’s ‘perfect body’ flashed in his mind. Nightmares were certainly going to plague him later that night while he tried to sleep.

He checked his phone to see Kankuro had sent something he called a ‘meme’ to the family group chat. Rasa didn’t understand what was so funny about throwing your used car batteries into the ocean, and he didn’t think it was perfectly legal like the picture said it was, but he was glad his kids were laughing and not crying. He hated when they cried. 

When he returned to his office at the end of his break, he found San at his desk on the phone with someone.

“-need to call the fraud department, sir. No. No, he cannot help you. Sir, if you would please listen to me- excuse you but I am the manager of this branch! What? No you cannot have my personal telephone number! I’m going to give you the number for a fraud specialist and she will help you.”

The old man, Kakuzu. He kept calling Rasa and had somehow gotten his cell phone number but didn’t have the number for the fraud department.  
  
“Yes, you’re welcome. I’m sure they can help. Goodbye.” San hung up the phone and looked at Rasa, shaking his head, “This old man thinks because you approve loans you can just give him back his money. He was actually arguing with me about it! Said it was the banks fault and they should just give him his money back since they were so willing to give it to someone else. I hope he takes his medication...”

“I know. He keeps calling me. He even called me last night at dinner.” Rasa sighed and took his seat behind his desk after his boss got up and left. At least San had taken care of that issue, hopefully. He checked his schedule to see he had some time before his next appointment and he hoped no one showed up without one. 


	4. Orochimaru's Scientific Research

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orochimaru just needs some funding to continue his research. What is Rasa so afraid of? It's just science.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to finish editing, I was literally unable to sit down to work on it for more than a minute or two at a time but here it is! Please enjoy!
> 
> Also, there is mentions of death and loss in this chapter, nothing too serious and no one dies but just a heads up for anyone who might need it.

* * *

 

“Karura... please, don’t make me go to work today. I’ll stay home, the kids will be at school…” He raised a brow at her, “We can have a romantic day just the two of us.” He leaned down and kissed her neck, “I’ll call in sick… and we can spend the whole day in bed. When was the last time we did that?” He nipped the sensitive spot behind her ear, making her giggle.

“The last time we did that… I ended up pregnant with Gaara.” 

Kankuro walked by and made a disgusted face as he saw his parents. “Gross, come on! I don’t want to know about that!” 

Rasa wrapped his arm around Karura and whispered, “Should we go for a fourth?”  
  
“Rasa, stop,” Karura giggled, pushing against his chest, “You’re not sick. It would be a lie and then if you really need a sick day, you’ll be one short. Besides, I have my hands full with three kids, that cat, and you already.”

Sighing dramatically, he leaned his head against her shoulder, “I can’t take another day of these weirdos! I don’t know where they’ve come from all of a sudden. That old man won’t stop calling me! He can’t remember where he wrote the fraud department’s number down at but apparently has mine memorized. A pig ate my pants. A pig of all things! I keep having nightmares about that... Sasori... I need a day off.”

Kissing his cheek, Karura stepped away, “Look on the bright side, you have a very interesting job and at least it hasn’t been boring. Imagine having a boring, mind numbing job.”

“At this point, with what I’ve had to deal with recently, I would prefer boring.”

“If he gets to stay home, can I stay home, too?” Gaara stood behind Rasa and looked down at the carpet.

“Gaara,” Karura started gently, “You need to go to school.” 

Gaara sighed, and looked close to tears, “But I hate going. I just want a day off, just one. Please? I’ll stay in my room all day, you won’t even know I’m here.”

Rasa was not going to have him cry today and knelt to be at eye level with his youngest son, “I’ll tell you what. If I get just one more bizarre request, I’ll leave work early and pick you up from school early,” Rasa promised, “how’s that?”

Gaara perked up, “Really, dad? You'd do that?”

Rasa nodded, “Of course I would.” 

“You can’t take him out of school early.” Karura whispered as Rasa stood back up.

“Look, the kid needs a break once in a while, just like anyone else does. It’s fine.” He kissed her lightly on the lips and once more before ushering Gaara out the door, put their shoes on and then got into the car where Temari and Kankuro were already waiting.

* * *

 

Rasa waited in his office, expecting bizarre and ridiculous requests but surprisingly there had been none all morning. He had only one loan applicant and she was the first one he had approved in a week. He was feeling relieved but also a little disappointed since he knew Gaara would have been waiting for him to pick him up early. He would have to make it up to him somehow.

Just as he was about to take his lunch, someone walked into his office and took a seat, sliding the loan application across the desk towards him.

“Hello, Mr. Sabaku. I apologize for not having an appointment, but they told me I could just come back to see you.”  
  
Rasa looked up to see an elegant figure sitting across from him. Long, sleek black hair and eyeliner rimmed golden eyes.

“Hello, you’re looking to get approved for a loan?”  
  
“Yes, I certainly hope so. I am looking to take out a loan for a groundbreaking scientific study.”  
  
Well, that certainly sounded interesting, Rasa thought, although, so had the artist. _At first..._

“Alright, let me see your application and run a credit report for you,” he looked down at the name on the application, “Orochimaru. This will just take a few minutes.” 

Once he started the credit report, Rasa looked over the loan application. Everything was filled out neatly and properly, which was always a good sign. 

Rasa was sure his string of bad luck with strange (and disturbing) requests was finally over. Until Orochimaru started talking.

“I am working on a groundbreaking research to bring the dead back to life. One day, we won’t have to bury our loved ones, we can just simply reanimate them.” Orochimaru talked as one might talk about their latest trip to the mall or grocery store.

Busy checking Orochimaru's credit report, it was nearly perfect. Rasa didn't quite hear what had been said, only hearing bits and pieces, and had taken out a pen, ready to sign his approval when what Orochimaru said finally hit him. He looked up slowly, his pen hovering just above the signature box.

“Wait, what?” Rasa's voice was almost a whisper, “You’re… you’re trying to reanimate corpses?”

“Oh yes! Though I try to stay away from the term 'corpse'. It makes one think of zombies and the like.” Orochimaru smiled and nodded, looking very proud, “I have almost figured it out! I just need some extra funding, which is why I am here, and should be able to nail down the final process.” 

Rasa’s mind raced. If Orochimaru almost had the process figured out, that meant he had attempted it before. Which meant he was experimenting on dead bodies. Rasa didn’t know much about medical research or the scientific community, but he thought something like this would be frowned upon if not outright illegal, and possibly involving murder. No, of course it was involving murder!

“I’m sorry but... no. I can’t approve a loan for necromancy.” Rasa tried to keep his voice as neutral and as calm as he possibly could. 

“This is _science_ , not necromancy! What do I look like, a magician?” Orochimaru seemed to be offended, gone was his smile and Rasa did not like the way he was now being looked at, as if being assessed. “I have a laboratory full of... volunteers, all ready and waiting. Not as if they can go anywhere.” 

Rasa did not appreciate the way Orochimarut laughed at his own joke.

“A laboratory... full…” Rasa trailed off, full of what, he wanted to know, _bodies?!_ He was pretty sure that’s what it was full of. Living people would not stick around to be experimented on like that. He suddenly felt very much like prey as Orochimaru’s eyes studied him as if he might become a ‘volunteer’. At least they had an armed guard at this branch, Rasa was thankful for that. 

“Oh yes, _full,_ ” Orochimaru confirmed, speaking slowly, his voice slithering over Rasa's skin. He went on, seemingly oblivious to Rasa's discomfort, “Of course, I am always looking for more volunteers to be part of my research.” He laughed then, and Rasa felt it was more threatening than not. 

“You know, some would say that is…” Struggling to come up with something, anything that would not anger or offend, Rasa took the loan papers and shuffled them on his desk, “the work of the gods you are attempting to do.” 

Orochimaru seemed pleased by that as he nodded, “Imagine, no more grief, no more loss.” 

Rasa wanted to say no one should be attempting such a thing. It was morally wrong. It would create an imbalance in the world. How could it even work? And not to mention it was disturbing and he might very well be committing murder to try his experiments.

After starring at each other for several moments, Orochimaru reached for the picture frame and looked at the photo, “Your family? Lovely. Have you thought of the painful heartbreak they will experience upon your demise? What I am doing will put an end to that pain. Your children will never have to face the loss of you and your wife, and in turn, you will never know the pain of losing a child. In the end though, I am a scientist who simply wishes to know all the secrets of life and of death. If others benefit from my hard work, all the better.” 

Placing the photo back, Orochimaru leaned forward, “Wouldn’t you like to know what secrets death has?”    
  
“Some might say the secrets death holds are not for the living to know.” Rasa stood and gave Orochimaru what he hoped was a pleasant smile, “Now, you just wait right there. I’m going to go see what I can do for you.”

Orochimaru wondered what was wrong with Rasa, his face was not functioning properly, but he said nothing. It would be rude to remark on such a thing and he did not appear to be having a stroke. Instead, he nodded politely and sat there, watching while Rasa picked up a box of copy paper and emptied it on the floor in the corner, then gathered up his things, along with the framed photo of his family, and dropped them all into the box. 

Picking up his briefcase, Rasa smiled, “You just… wait right there. I’ll be back before you know it.” 

Frowning, Orochimaru thought that it certainly did not appear that the loan officer was going to be returning any time soon. He couldn’t help but wonder if it was something he had said.  
  
Rasa backed out of his office and shut the door. Then hurried over to San’s office and threw the door open and stuck his head inside. 

“I quit! Someone wants to fund their research to bring the dead back to life and I’m pretty sure they want to experiment on me! I don’t know whose idea of a joke this was, but I’m done! You can hire someone else!”

“What joke? There’s no joke. Rasa, get back here! You can’t just quit like this!” San pushed his chair back and got up, chasing Rasa into the hallway.  
  
Rasa shouted over his shoulder, “I can and I just did! If this isn’t someone’s stupid idea of a joke, then I’m sincerely concerned for this city. I’m done. You deal with these lunatics!” He was not going to become a ‘volunteer’ for Orochimaru’s necromancy experiments, he was also going to try and forget Sasori’s ‘art’ and he would be changing his phone number to get that old man to stop calling him! At least he wasn’t being hounded by the pet pig. That had been nothing compared to the rest of them! 

He rushed out of the building and out to his car where he sped away to the school to pick up Gaara just like he promised. 

* * *

 

While making dinner, Karura heard her husband’s car pull up in the driveway. It was far too early for him to be home from work, the kids weren’t even out of school yet. She wondered what had happened this time and decided it must have been something very bad for Rasa to have actually left work over it. Now she regretted not being able to take San’s call not too long ago.

After wiping her hands on a towel, she opened the door to see her husband and youngest son taking their shoes off. Rasa looked pale and kept looking at the street as if he were afraid he was being followed.

“Get in, Gaara, hurry up!” He practically pushed Gaara through the door and then slammed it shut behind himself and locked all three locks.

“What’s going on?” Karura asked, “San called me, but my hands were dirty, I couldn’t answer it.”

“Someone wanted to kill dad for not approving his loan and then try to bring him back to life!” Gaara shouted, “Is someone really going to kill dad?” 

Karura did not like the sound of that, and shook her head, “No sweetie, no one is going to kill your dad over not approving a loan.” 

“He said the loan was to be able to experiment on bringing dead bodies back to life!” Gaara told her.

“Why would you tell him all this nonsense? He's terrified!” Karura scolded her husband, then turned to Gaara, “I’m sure he’s making it up to sound more exciting. No one is trying to kill your father, and no one is trying to bring people back from the dead.” She ruffled his red hair and gave Rasa a hard look, “He’s going to have nightmares now.” 

Rasa shook his head, “I’m not making this up, Karura! I was threatened by a mad man! This mad scientist, Orochimaru, he wants to know all of life’s secrets, and death’s! And then I quit.”  
  
“Rasa…” Karura shook her head, “You can’t just quit.” She took his hand in hers to find he was shaking and lead him to the kitchen table. “Come sit down, you need to relax.”  
  
“Who knew being a loan officer was so dangerous. But don’t worry. It’s fine, we’ll be fine. I’ll find a new job. One where I don’t have to turn people down for large amounts of money. People get crazy over money.” He let his wife lead him to a chair and sighed, “I’m getting a guard dog _and_ a security system.”

“A dog?!” Gaara‘s eyes lit up, “Can we go now?” 

“Let’s have something to eat first, then yes, we’ll go get a dog. A big, mean looking one.” Rasa told him. 

“Rasa!” Karura shouted, “You’re jumping to conclusions, we can’t just go out and get a dog like that.”

“Mom, please!” 

She went to get a plate of leftovers from the refrigerator and popped it in the microwave and took the time to study her husband. “You’re really upset over all these weird clients, aren’t you, Rasa?”  
  
“I am.”  
  
Once the food was done, she took it and put it on the table, “There, you two eat.” As she was walking back to the counter to finish chopping vegetables for dinner, she stopped and put her hands on Rasa’s shoulders, massaging them gently, “You can’t just go and get a dog by yourselves, what about Temari and Kankuro? They would be so excited to help pick one out, they've wanted one for so long. And you’re definitely not going without me.”

“We’re really getting a dog?” Gaara’s eyes were wide with excitement and Karura smiled at him, nodding.

“Yes, but we’re all going, not just you two.” 

“Should we take Shukaku along, too? Make sure he likes whatever dog we pick out?”  
  
Laughing, Karura leaned down to kiss his cheek, “Don’t be silly! And then after we do that, you are calling San to beg him for your job back.”


End file.
